July To Do List for USNA Applicants

Depending upon where you are in the process, you may have done some of the items on this list. Skip them. Be happy you’re done. Move on to the next:

First Steps:

If you’re serious about attending the USNA or any other military academy, buy a few books (or check them out of the library) on the process. It’s worth the investment because if you pursue this dream, you will be investing much more of your time and money before you achieve your goal. Better to make sure this is the direction you want to go.

From the perspective of a woman who was accepted and how she accomplished it. Down-to earth, personal, definitely not dry, and should give confidence to any teen, male or female, considering a military academy as their college of choice.

A general and useful overview of the USNA application and the academy in general

Seniors–through Summer Seminar? Time for DodMETS

Get DodMETS done. Immediately. If you completed Summer Seminar and they gave you your candidate number, that means they’ll be inviting you to take the medical exam.If you’re healthy, don’t wait. Who knows what happens later.

Seniors–get the CFA done

You can take this as soon as you have a candidate number. For information on the Candidate Fitness Assessment, click here and then here. This will be given during Summer Seminar. If you pass it, you’re done. If you don’t, you have until you submit your application to pass it. Check out what’s required (crunches, shuttle run, mile run, etc.) and make sure you’re prepared. It’ll feel good in July to have that out of the way.

Seniors–if you have a Candidate Number

Set up a binder to keep all of your application material together. I recommend a two-inch binder so everything you do is in one spot. Make a tab for every activity, i.e., CFA, Congressional Interview, online Preliminary Application, etc..

Make copies of every piece of paper you submit. Then, if (when) they disappear across the country in Annapolis, it won’t be a show stopper.

Take Summer School

This summer and every summer, take classes that

will get you ahead of the curve

will give you extra time to study the more difficult academic courses (AP Physics, Calculus, etc)

will improve the bad grade you got in a class

will enhance your resume (Spanish III)

At military academies, there are no summers off. You get a brief leave, but the rest of the time is spent learning your craft in situ–on a ship, a sub, a YP.

Seniors–get the preliminary application completed

As of April 1st, the Preliminary Application to USNA (and probably the other military academies) is available on USNA website. It is quick, brief, nothing like the final document. If you’ve made the decision you want to go to USNA, fill it out. At that point, you’ll be in the system and you and the Naval Academy can determine if this is a good fit.

January is the deadline to complete preliminary application if you want to be included in next year’s application process.

Seniors–request a Congressional Nomination Package

These are due in Fall, with interviews in November/December. Get one from your Congressperson and both Senators. Fill them out. Double check to see that everything is accurate. Mail the packages to the Senators. Often, they do all of their selections via mail–no personal interviews. For the Congressperson, hand carry it to them. When you drop it off, try to meet the aide responsible for this activity. Say hi, chat for a moment. S/he may remember you from the Academy Night, and will definitely remember you when you come in for the interview in November/December.

General Admissions Questions

Take SAT and ACT

If you’re over 1400, you’re doing great. If you’re not, take it as often as possible. There’s a trick to the test that you’ll figure out as you take it over and over. A lot of colleges offer a PSAT-type test for free,. Take advantage of those opportunities. That’ll keep costs down and provide feedback on what you should work on.

Hone these critical skills

All USNA applicants and grads are leaders. If you’re a freshman, even a sophomore, not sure if you have enough of the leadership gene, check out these posts to see how to develop these traits:

Read Books

Continue Community Service

Most colleges want to know you give back to your community; Military Academies are no exception. Do as much as you can. Give as much of your time and labor as you can afford. No, it doesn’t mean you can do less in academics or sports. Figure out how to do it all. That’s the kind of person USNA, USAFA and all military academies like.

Tour a warship

These tours are offered through your Blue and Gold officer or any number of other avenues. Find a tour. Take it. First and foremost, you want to be sure that a Naval Academy choice is right for you. Seeing how officers work on a Naval ship is a good idea.

Create your resume

List all of your activities, awards, community service. The best time to start this is as a freshman, but if you’re older than that, do it now. And keep it up to date throughout high school. It’ll remind you of all your accomplishments when you’re filling out applications and essays.

Here’s a sample (truncated to protect the applicant info), set up in Google Spreadsheet with a simple organization with columns and rows:

Say hi to military reps who show up on your campus

Chat with them. Pick their brains. Find out what they can tell you about life in the military. It’s a different world and any way you can assure yourself it’s for you, do it.

Focus on your unique skill

With summer comes less academic work. A good time to get back in touch with whatever it is that sets you apart from others. Military academies like that side of you. They want to know you can do everything, not just academics and sports.

Be a leader

Wherever there’s an opportunity to be a leader, take it. The Military Academies want to see you as a proactive, can-do person, not a follower. Officers are the ones who make things happen and inspire the enlisted to do their best. Be that person.

Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, and her debut thriller, To Hunt a Sub. She is webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a tech columnist for TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for ISTE’s Journal for Computing Teachers, and freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Currently, she’s editing the sequel to her just-published novel, due for publication next summer.

Responses

Jacqui,

I wanted to write to thank you for running this website/blog. When my son Tanner was expressing interest in attending the Naval Academy I did a great deal of online research. I found your site and signed up for the periodic emails. Your site was the best for information from a family who has been through the process.

Fast forward 18 months and we just received our first phone call from our Plebe. Attending I-day was surreal, but a great and memorable experience.

Thanks again for you work in making the application process easier to navigate.

So glad to hear that. You threw me back to that phone call in my house. Everyone was crying–for no good reason! I wish your son the best of luck. My daughter continues to love being part of the Navy. She’s served on two warships and now at Ft. Meade. Your son will do things he never could imagine.

What’s in this blog

You absolutely gotta get into the Naval Academy? Start here. Find out why you should want to attend USNA, how to get in, what's the lifestyle, how to get started, problem-solving if you're stalled. Post questions for your unique situation.

A personal note:
When my daughter wanted a book on how to get into the Naval Academy, all she could find were books that told her how hard it was, how selective they were, how very few could achieve it. My daughter brushed them off, but I wondered how many kids would be discouraged by that approach and decided to write a book explaining how to achieve the goal, not why kids couldn’t. I stressed how teens can solve the problems that stood in their way rather than why they couldn’t, how they could get where they wanted to go rather than why they couldn’t get there. That worked for my daughter and I had no doubt it would work for others. From what I hear from readers, it’s true.

Search by Category

Search by Category

Email Subscription

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.